Bethesda has shared the exciting news that the legendary first-person shooter Quake is now Steam Deck Verified and the best possible experience on handheld devices such as ASUS ROG Ally. Although it is certainly a major announcement that the awesome game from 1996 is now suitable for gaming laptops, it seems to have spurred on the announcement of player requests for new installments in the long-standing franchise that has been active for more than two decades. The announcement signifies that the game, which was made by id Software, has a very loyal and strong fan base that does not want to disappear from the gaming community.

Bethesda now talks about this through a tweet, right? It is just a simple statement: Quake is already on the list of Steam Deck Verified games, and it is also ‘Handheld Optimized’ for the ROG Ally, nothing more, nothing less. “Surrender is not an option.” I get it, I get it. A tiny but nice update for a cold-blooded classic that is nearly 30 years old now, maybe? Replies seem to be saying one thing and that is… whoa! Steam Deck doesn’t even get a mention, actually, nobody is talking about it. Just a great mass of players silently, if not a bit louder, calling for the new Quake title. The mood is not of “thank you for the update” but rather “WE KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US.”

It is as if the questions are coming in the very first moment. Gamer LXXXVI is like ‘When are we going to see a new Quake for 2026?’ ‘When is Quake 5 coming?’ asks V3nti1at0r who even attaches a sarcastic photo of a bewildered man. ‘Did that Quake 6 teaser call for a joke?’ from 2Bnator. The whole thing is characterized by a strong sense of unfulfilled longing, just like the player base has been living on remakes and nostalgic memories for too long already. And honestly, they are not being unreasonably demanding. Quake 4 was the last single-player Quake game, released in 2005. It seems like a lifetime ago in the gaming industry.

Some responses are pure gamer sarcasm, which is, by the way, the best kind of sarcasm. Lord_Santa is the first to let the sarcasm fly with, “Ehhh wut? I ‘member playin’ Quake on a Palm V PDA back in the days. Color me thoroughly unimpressed.” Which is, of course, not unreasonable. If a game could run on a Palm Pilot, it is impossible that it couldn’t run on a Steam Deck. RedsyrupAlpha is just as skeptical: “I could swear it played perfectly before.” And wengo314 just goes in for the plain, lethal “uh….what was there to optimize?” Ouch! It seems like the community is giving them a light, collective reproach for announcing something that already worked and was even more advanced in the first place?

Then again, however, comes the most important part – the requests, the suggestions, and even the outright demands. This is where the players’ true wants are unveiled. AirchungusTV maps out the whole thing: “Another Quake, with Quake III movement and gunplay including strafe jumping… Quake Champions went the wrong way, it’s too slow, we want to see movement tech. Please. Or sell the IP.” The “Or sell the IP” part is one spicy meatball, damn. It kind of sounds like Wasted_FPS who, by the way, replies to the “surrender is not an option” statement, “if surrender is not an option then make a new, good Quake game.” Mic drop.

TheSmashingHit is the one who goes completely the strategist route, suggesting that Quake’s 30th anniversary is this year and recommending against remastering the first game again. Instead of that, they project a remaster of “the game that fits with celebrating three decades: Quake III Arena.” A great suggestion, indeed! Others, such as CosmicRichy, are asking for a direct remake of Quake 3. Then there is also flints09, the guy who sends you the ultimate bittersweet joke: “Man I love Quake so much, it’s such a shame that they never made any other Quake games besides this one.” The suffering is real, guys.

Wait a minute! I was getting off point again. Oh yes, the real news. So yes, the game is verified; YAY! That’s a good thing! What it means is that Valve has tested it and says it runs great on the Deck, with proper controller support and everything. Astealoth confirms it by saying they bought the game on the Steam sale and the “current update is very good.” And michaellongii, who mentions playing on a PlayStation controller, finds the experience seamless, while others hope for similar optimization on Xbox platforms as well.